January 04
2006

"The important thing to remember is that there is no “magic” sequel number at this point. What we do on DVD will, hopefully, be a conversation starter. (E.g. “Would it be worthwhile to do a sequel, or a direct-to-DVD movie or a super special edition DVD, etc.? At what budget? Hmmmm, let me crunch the numbers and mull that over before my next 2007 budget meeting.”) In other words, it’s a wait and see situation, where the “wait” will be longer than we had hoped prior to the theatrical release."

Definitely doesn't sound like "no" to me. It's fairly positive, and it confirms what we thought--a lot of DVDs have to be sold to get a studio to pony up for more 'verse. It also confirms that C.B. is one of the most affable suits out there.

Good link! Very nice of Chris Buchanan to give us this update, which seems about as "inside" in Hollywood as you can get! Definitely, it's far from over, but we have a ways to go and need to wait and see. Well, we know how to do that! ;-)

Well, there's no way I'd be giving up the hope so soon anyway. But the strong dvd sales we've seen has certainly made me more hopeful and while I wish we could get the figures on the dvd sales completely, any news like this is welcome to me. Just hearing that Uni is talking about the 'strong dvd sales' make me happy enough of now. Big thanks to Chris Buchanan for giving us this update. Quite an affable chap, indeed!

Same here, I'll keep hoping until I get a "no". I also feel this way about the much talked about Spike movie. I'm even hopeful for a Buffy feature film. I remember about a year ago Sara saying if the script was good, she'd be interested. Hopeful is my middle name. I think I'm one of those "dumb people" Joss talked about in that last interview.

Heh. Reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon from many years ago. A Gas Station with a big sign: "Service is our middle name" while below it, a number of staff go about their business. "Hey Sloppy, toss me that wrench will ya? "Sure, Bad. No problem."

I don't think there is any shot at a theatrical sequel. However, I am very hopeful about a mini-series or made for television movie. A straight to DVD sequel would be OK too but I would prefer one of the other two.

Well, if it's any consolation, I am a shiny new fan of Serenity and Firefly. I rented the movie a week ago, then bought the boxed set and the movie, which I immediately loaned to a friend. I've also been passing the word something fierce.
So take heart. The dvd sales are steady, and being done by people like me, who were completely missed by the publicity (how, god, how?) and are now passing the word. I'm glad Chris sounds like they're taking the time to see how this seed is growing, since time for exposure is Serenity's best friend.

My house must have been radiating last Monday. While I was watching the SERENITY DVD (it was the very first thing to come in the mail this year) with my 16-year-old son, my 18-year-old daughter, who had seen the film at the theater because I invited her and her boyfriend, asked if she could have the Firefly set because she was having some friends over for a DVD evening. They ended up watching it all because they couldn't stop, and several of them put the set very high on their wish lists (these aren't kids that can spend 50 Euros on a whim.)

And this just keeps happening. Everyone I introduce to this loves it to pieces (granted, some of them love it only because of Nathan Fillion's good looks, but hey, do I ask for reason/s? *s*)

You'll never see an official 'No'. It would kill DVD sales over a long period if the fan base disappeared. Plus, never say never (although the casts contracts will likely expire after a period of time).

I'm not going to say "never" to a theatrical sequel, though I think that a mini-series, possibly on the Sci-Fi channel, would be more likely.

(Though, alas, I wouldn't be able to see it until it comes out on DVD - why do all the cool SF shows end up on cable! If NBC were to start airing Battlestar Galactica, even if it was from the start of season one, I'd watch it religiously! Wahhh!)

Man, the BBC's entire budget for Doctor Who would fund about an episode of Firefly (if the sets were already built).

BSG - Sci-Fi funded the Mini-Series, and the sets were kept up. However they decided they couldn't justify a series with the ratings it got. However, then Sky One provided partial funding in return for having the episodes first. Because they sets were still up, it saved significant amounts of money so they were go for series. If the sets burnt down it'd be game over.

Umm, gossi -- "Howe declines to discuss the budget, but Sci Fi has enlisted Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB to help shoulder the $2-million-plus production cost for each episode, the most expensive in Sci Fi's history."

Hmmm, is it just me or does anyone else miss the days when we fans didn't have to worry about details like ratings, network deals and production costs and were able to simply sit down in the evening and enjoy our favourite shows, oblivious to what was going on behind the scenes.

My take is this: I agree with gossi that Universal is not going to say "no" to a sequel for fear off running off the fanbase plus it is simply too early for the suits to start talking sequel. The DVD has just been released and it needs time to build sales. Remember, Firefly took over a year to build significant sales numbers after it's DVD release.

I would not expect to hear any talk of sequel in any form until the fourth quarter of this year at the earliest. I also wouldn't expect a shiny US special edition DVD until then or possibly next year. Studios typically release these several months to sometimes years after the initial DVD release. I am not saying it is impossible, just don't expect it until then. Not tryng to rain on anyone's parade...I want a sequel as bad as the next browncoat, trust me...just trying to be realistic.

As far as the cast goes, it all depends on what type of contract they signed with Universal as gossi said earlier. George Lucas signed his principal actors in the Star Wars prequels to a six year contract in order to get all three movies made. Some did other projects during that time so it wasn't like they were just sitting around all that time and couldn't work on other things. The same could happen with the Serenity cast.

Thursday Next Welcome! It's so lovely to hear stories like that. Makes me smile!
Also Vampire with a Gun, it's true what you say, I also remember the times sitting down, and then finding out some exec cancelled my show. So, it's good we can hold a little more sway these days. If only a little. So, missing those days, not so much.

Yes, but the thing that comes through every single minute of the time (and, really, the thing I like best) in both Firefly and Serenity is that the cast loved this show and Joss and their characters and the other actors. So I think, if they had the chance to play out their stories in some regular way, they'd be likely to sign, even if their original contracts were out of date.

Nixygirl, but do we actually have anymore real sway than we ever did? We may be a lot more aware of why the shows get cancelled but the Save Angel campaign showed that ultimately the networks will do whatever they want, regardless of what the fans want or do. In the case of a truly great show like Angel i really do believe that the fight was worthwhile and the show should have gone on. in fact i'd do it all again if i thought we could bring Angel back but, for the most part anyway, i don't have that fire for the average series i watch.

With the possible exception of Firefly/Serenity and Farscape (and in both those cases it basically came down to a financial decision, despite the fan uproar) i don't think any of our increased awareness of what goes on behind the scenes has made any impact, other than to frustrate us and show us just how mercenary the television business has become.

I don't know. Call me old fashioned but i sometimes yearn for the days when watching television didn't constantly have to include worrying about ratings and how much a show costs to make. If a show got cancelled you were disappointed (i know that i was when i lost American Gothic, Space: Above and Beyond and Earth 2) but you accepted it and moved on to something new. It was the same back then as it is now, except now i tend to think that we are losing a little too much of the fun of watching television by making it a battle with the networks to keep series alive.

Agreed, as i said above, but ultimately we fans could have kicked and screamed all we wanted but if the execs didn't see the dollar signs popping up in front of their eyes then neither project would have happened. The only real reason that Serenity and the Farscape mini happened was because of the potential profits they saw from the DVD sales.

Again, i'm not saying that these campaigns don't see results, at least occasionally, or that they are without merit. I'm just saying that it seems to me that we are spending too much time worrying about what comes next and not enough just enjoying what is given to us. Maybe i'm just getting a little jaded by the way things are today but i really do miss just enjoying television for the sake of it and not letting the politics of the networks always get in the way. With the internet being as it is today and information being so freely available this is probably a genie that can never be put back in the bottle though.